Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i am a utilitarian, and also incredibly lazy. i am trying to construct the lowest maintenance snake set-up i can. i have a CB kingsnake.

the main problem is with using astroturf. if he poops on it, i usually dont feel well enough just sraping it off, so i clean his carpet after a few times for his own sanitation. this is pretty annoying, because i have to take him out, and take all the other stuff out to get the carpet out. whats a better thing to use? i dont want him to be able to get under it(which he just figured out), and i want to be able to easily clean it without dismantling his whole tank. what do you use?

i was thinking very small blocks of tile, then when he pooped on one or 2, you could take it out and clean it individually.

another thing that im sure only bothers me is changing his water. i try to change it whenever he soaks in it, but i can never tell when he has. ill still change it when hes spent a day in it and left some skin, but is there another way to disinfect instead?

thanks for any ideas.

see, i thought snake toilets and snake bathtubs, but i dont think the conditioning would go over too well.

snakes need maintaince. whether you have 1 or a dozen. its not fair to them to keep them in a cage and just be lazy about cleaning them.

i use the green carpet on some of mine. then have paper towels over that to help soak up messes. but still i have to take the stuff out, put in fresh paper towels, etc. you just can't "scrape off the crap". along with that is urates and well, just like people they have to elimate.

alot of people like aspen. you can get away with "spot cleaning" with something like that but still need to completly clean the tank occasionally.i also use newspaper. just easier and cheaper for me with 7 snakes. but still i have to change it. i would think any type of little pieces of tile would still cause bacterial between the tile. plus how would you like to lay on cool tile all the time.

sorry to sound rough but you got me going on being a lazy snake keeper. seriously, if you can't even keep the cage clean then what about handling...you have to handle it to keep it docile. not just throw it a mouse and leave it. you will have a bitting snake on your hands.

so just my 2 cents...p.s. i had a baby king. somehow it figured out how to get out and i found it dead outside. got run over. so be sure you have a very tight lid.

you talk to me like im an idiot. i DO clean his carpet, because i realize his sanitation is important. if there is an easier and still clean system, what would be wrong with using it?

i feed him on sunday, give him 2-3 days to digest and handle him twice between when he gets fed again. hes very docile, and still very active.

he has a very nice closure system and i knew to be aware of that. i had a cornsnake escape when i was all of 9 years old and i know reptiles are crafty.

i know how to take care of a snakes needs, and i do. i am simply looking for a way for him to get the same care and me to be able to do less work. whats wrong with that? i do not want to compromise his sanitation and comfort, just find a more efficent way. in the mean time, i take good care of him with what i have.

sorry to get emotional, but your telling me how i treat my snake and what you say is just not true. you know how personal these things are.

ok, my appoligies... it just sounded like in your first post you didn't want to do much with it. thats great. i don't know of any easier way. what i do seems easy for me. just have to find what works for you and do it.

i just tried astro turf for the first time with my milk snake. i DO NOT like it. i always use coconut fiber and that makes it easy to spot clean, and it seems to absorb smells quite well too. the first time it pooped on the astro turf, i was surprised how bad it smelled compared to when it poops on the coconut fiber. i hear ya on it being a pain to clean that turf, thats why im going back to the coconut fiber. but ya... you still have to clean it every once in a while. i spot clean every time it poops and change all of it out about every 2 months.

You sound like a workaholic to me (cleaning astroturf, thinking about picking up heavy little tiles, dismantling cages).

Use newspaper, keep the decorations simple, use overhead heat (my kingsnake never goes under the paper). The energy saved by this approach will allow a little more interaction with the snake. As for the water question, look for anything supported by the surface tension of the water (dust, film, bugs). This is the hardest part but if you use a big water bowl you may get away with only changing it twice a week. If in doubt insert a long straw down and ample the water yourself.

I understand where you're coming from. I try to keep all our snakes in attractive, natural looking set-ups, some with live plants. Sometimes it's so much work that I just wish I kept them in plastic tubs.

That is my choice to make, however, and how you keep your snake is yours. I have no problem with different approaches.

Have you thought about cage liners? They are disposable and cut to fit standard tank sizes, so they're not as bulky and easy to get underneath as newsprint . You can find them on the classifieds here on Kingsnake. Also, you could get a second reptile carpet. When one is dirty, switch it out, hose it off outside and let it air-dry. Takes you 5-10 minutes, tops.

As far as the water, sorry, but it has to be done a minimum of 2 times a week for your snake's well-being.

Hope I've given you some ideas to work with. Good luck and have fun!

-----
Diego & Tiffany's Zoo
SNAKES
4.4 Corn Snakes (Different morphs)
1.0.0 Boa Constrictor
0.1.0 Dumeril's Boa
0.1.0 Tangerine Honduran Milksnake
1.0.0 Honduran Milksnake
0.1.0 Mexican Black Kingsnake
1.1.0 Ball Pythons
0.0.1 Ribbon Snake
0.0.2 Rosy Boas (Mid Baja & Baja)
0.1.0 Pueblan Milksnake
1.2.0 Kenyan Sand Boas
1.0.0 Western Hognose
0.1.0 Solomon Island Boa
1.1.0 Gray Banded Kingsnakes (River Road)
0.0.1 Desert Phase Kingsnake
LIZARDS
1.0.0 Frilled Dragon
3.1.0 Bearded Dragons (2 Normal, 1 RedXGold, 1 Citrus)
0.1.0 Eastern Collared Lizard
0.1.0 Merauke Blue Tongue Skink
1.0.0 Turquoise Sunburst Veiled Chameleon
0.0.3 Leopard Geckos
1.1.0 Yellow Niger Uromastyx

I hear you. Even the most diehard snake enthusiast will appreciate easy-to-clean setups that still provide the snakes with what they need to be as healthy as possible. Here are some tips I use if I want to keep it simple and quick. Basically, it is using chlorohexadine to clean cages and bowls, and to use newspaper subtsrate. Kings actually do very well in a newspaper-laden cage. They hide under it anywhere in the cage they want.

From another post -

Water
Change twice a week. Sorry. But, you can get this stuff called Nolvosan (spellin?) which is chlorohexadine I think. Anyway, Pro-Exotics sells it in a gallon concentrate with a pump spout. Get a spray bottle, pump a few squirts of the concentrate into it and fill with water, shake it, and you have it. And you can clean water bowls quickly and easily.

Substrate
Lots of debate. Wood shavings and other paticulate substrates can be spot cleaned before a total change is needed. Does save some time. If you use newspaper, use enough so the paper serves as the hide too. Then there is less to remove to clean. A humid hide may be necessary to be offered at times if using newspaper and your room humidity is low. And use the Nolvosan to clean the glass or plastic or whatever.